Why it works: Corn and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,324 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Corn Oysters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine grated corn, flour, pepper, salt, and egg, and mix until well combined.
Fry and drain
Heat lard in a frying pan until boiling.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot lard.
Fry until golden brown on both sides.
Remove and drain on paper towels.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Corn + eggtop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,484 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Grated corn
- Provides the main bulk and sweet corn flavour of the fritter.
- Flour
- Binds the mixture and gives the fritters structure as they cook.
- Egg
- Helps bind the batter and sets during frying to hold the fritter together.
- Lard
- Conducts heat for frying and browns the outside of the fritters.
The step that matters
Drop spoonfuls into the hot lard. If the lard is not hot enough, the batter absorbs fat and becomes greasy instead of crisping. Frying in fat that is hot enough seals the outside quickly, so the fritters brown and hold their shape.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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